---
id: "question-client-transparency"
type: "open-question"
source_timestamps: ["§ Breakdown 3: Leaders and managers operate in different realities."]
tags: ["client-relations", "ethics"]
related: ["framework-three-breakdowns"]
resolution_path: "Development of industry-standard disclosure frameworks for AI usage in professional services deliverables."
sources: ["reskilling"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-reskilling"
originDay: 10
articleStem: "hbr-sig-50-adoption-overloading-managers"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/ai-adoption-is-overloading-your-middle-managers"
sourceTitle: "AI Adoption Is Overloading Your Middle Managers"
---
# How should firms handle client transparency regarding AI-generated work?

**Open question.** The text notes that managers are currently left alone to figure out 'how to handle a client who assumes all the work they've received is AI-generated.' The article identifies this as a *symptom* of lacking firm-wide direction — the third of the [[framework-three-breakdowns]] — but does not resolve the dilemma itself. [[action-visible-leadership]] would remove the guesswork by setting a firm-wide stance, but the substantive answer (what to disclose, when) is left open.

**Resolution path.** Development of industry-standard disclosure frameworks for AI usage in professional-services deliverables. Broader AI-governance literature (OECD AI principles, corporate governance models emphasizing human oversight and accountability) offers scaffolding for such disclosure norms.